Friction clutch



Oct. 18, 1932.

mmm

,Pietel-jee 9@ 13 1932 DAVID E. GAMBLE, OF DETROIT; HICBIGAN, ASSIGNOB. Tl THE BORG & BECK COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A COBPOBATIONOE ILLINOIS FRICTION CLUTCH Application med Heyl 15i This invention reiates to clutches andvits obcct is to make the clutch telic hold gradue iy sind without shock or jar..

I A. further object of the invention is to gg provide the clutch with a driven plete of novei construction which is changed in forni end pieced under tension under pressure oli the ciutch, which tension increnses with the pressure end thereby forms e cushion which innires the clutch take hold gi'ndneiiy end without grabbing. in the accompanying dressing iiinstreting the invention in e. selected embodiment Fig. i shows the invention embodied in en entornotive friction clutch.

Fig.. 2 is en enierged detsii sectionei vien! oi erts of the clutch inY reiense position.

in. 3 is e view siiniinr to Fig 2 showing c utch engaged. .ferring to the drevring e is e driven shaft.j 5 is e diy-Wheel, ii is driving shnft, 7 is the ciutch release device, 8 is the clutch release sleeve, 9 is the cover plate, 10 ere the operating levers and li is the com ring. @s The ciutch as thus ier described forms no art ci the present invention; it is selected 'or the purpose of showing one embodiment of the invention and it 'is to be understood thet the invention is not restricted to use with this particnler clutch.

The driven plate 12 is dat and is provided on opposite sides, adjacent its periphery, with friction rings 13, 11i. These rings constitute friction facings on opposite sides of that portion of the driven plate which is clamped or clutched between the cam ring 11 and the fly-wheel 5 to enge e the clutch. These facing rings are made o any suitable friction materiel, preferably some non-compressible material, end they may be as wide as required for eech particular embodiment of the invention.

It is customary et the present time to ro vide the driven plete of a. ciutch with riction facing rings, but, so far es I sin envers? rings have elweys been oi the seme thickness throughout end when the cam ring is operated to engage the clutch the friction sur ecos of the two fecing rin s take hold throughout their entire aree at t e same time,

1826. Serial No. 109,238.

often causing the clutch to 'grab and pro-v ducing o. severe shock and Jar. I aim to avoid this objectionv to clutches heretofore mede by making the driven piste and the friction ring acings in e novel manner so that the clutch will engage gradually withn out grabbing end Without producing a shock und jor. ff attain this end by tapering each f .ciniiy, one being thinner et its inner W et its enter edge and the other j inner et its outer edge then et its y L thus forming rings substantially' tregciesoi. in cross section. By tapering the rings oppositeiy es described, they take n, concs convex: iorifnS the ring 13 being conu ring it being convex when the iste is viewed in e piene from the construction is preferably such that throughout the width of the friction rings the driven plete as e unit, including the rings7 is of the seme thickness so that uni forni contact throughout the aree of the friction rin s vvii he made under pressure. When the c utch is disengaged the plate 12 is fiat. The friction ring 13 is closer to the ii -vvheei at its outer edge than at its inner e ge. The friction rin 14 is closer to the com ring et its inner e ge than at its outer edge. It will be apparent that when the cani ring is moved to engage the clutch it will rst engage adjacent its inner edge the friction ring 14 end then the friction ring 13 adjacent its outer ed e will be engaged with the fly-wheel. As t e pressure progresses more of the surface of the rings will be engeged until finally all of the surface of the rings is engaged with the cam ring and the iy-wheel. This involves e kinking of the driven plate annularlyat 15 and places the outer portion of the plate under tension. This klnking is produced because the o posing friction faces 16, 17 of the fiy-whee and the com ring are erellel the driven plate 12 is tiet end the frlction rings 13, 14 are concavo convex. It is not material which of the friction rings is on one side of the driven piste i2 end which on the other since in either arrangement they will present the same concave convex form and produce an equivalent Milking edect. It is apparent that tid if the position of the friction rings as they appear in Fig. 2 is reversed, there will be a reversal of direction of the kink as it appears in Fig. 3. I prefer that the inner face of each riction ring should lie in a normal lane and produce the concave or convex efect in the ring by tapering the outer face of the ring radially, but it-may be found desirable for some purposes to provide the concavo convex effect in some other manner and while I believe the construction and arrangement shown and described is superior to any other I do not wish to restrict myself iii this detail.

My invention rovides means whereby the clutch is enable to take hold gradually and progressively to full engagement. vThis prevents the clutch from grabbin and avoids shocks and jars. It will be o served that as the cam ring approaches the fly-wheel 'the driven plate is rst engaged at and adjacent the outer edge of the friction ring 13 at and adjacent the inner edge of the friction ring 14 and the contact area between these arts progressively increases with coiitinuexilmovement of the cam ring until there is full contact and engagement of the clutch. The kinking of the driven plate 12 provides a certain resistance to the engaging move ment of the cam ring which tends to prevent too sudden and abrupt movement of this ring and this assists in providing a gradually engaging clutch.

It is desirable that,a clutch should disengage quickly and this is accomplished with my invention because the kink starts to flatten out as the pressure is released and the area of contact between the fly-wheel member and the cam ring member and the friction rings of the driven plate immediately begins to reduce with the release of pressure and as the kink begins to flatten out.. This isa progressive movement which continues until there is nolouger contact between the driven plate and the clutch members.

Ihave shown one embodiment of the invention which will be satisfactory for many different clutch assemblies, but it may be necessary to change the form, construction and arrangement of parts for different adaptations of thel invention and I reserve the being thicker at its outer edge than at its inner edge.

8. In a friction clutch, the combination of said plate, said friction rings tapering ra, Y

dially and oppositely to cause progressive contact of said members therewith under pressure.

5. In a friction clutch, the combination of y a relatively fixed clutch member, a relatively movable clutch member, and a driven plate having friction faces located between said members, and friction rings on the sides of said plate, said friction rings tapering radially and one being thinner at its outer edge' than at its inner edge and the other being thicker at its outer edge than at its inner edge to cause progressive contact between the rings and said members and said plate to kink under pressure.

6. A driven plate for a friction clutch comprising a metal member having'substantially flat parallel faces throughout, and friction rings embracing the same, said plate being concavoconvex at its frictional contact area.

7. A driven plate for a friction clutch, the same comprising a metal member having substantially fiat parallel faces throughout, and oppositely disposed friction rings embracing the same, said rings being radially tapered.

8. A driven plate for a friction clutch, the same comprising a practically rigid member and friction rings upon opposite sides thereof, said rings being substantially trapezoidal in cross section, with a thin edge of one ring adjacent a thick edge of the other ring the outer faces of said rings being substantially flat throughout their entire surfaces.

9. A driven plate for a friction clutch embodying a substantially flat member having oppositely disposed friction rings thereon, said rings each having a face out of parallelism with said member, the outer faces of said rings being brought into parallelism with the central portion of said flat member under.

pressure and the outer portion of said member being placed under tension.

10. AA driven plate for a friction clutch, embodying a metallic member adapted to flex under pressure and friction rings thereon,n

with their outer faces out of parallelism with said member and parallel with each other.

DAVID E. GAMBLE. 

